Nikhil Singh, Stanzin Dolkar win Full Marathon titles at Ladakh Marathon

Nikhil Singh and Stanzin Dolkar won the men’s and women’s 42K titles at the 13th Ladakh Marathon, while Tsetan Namgyal and Gargi Sharma claimed Half Marathon honours. More than 7,800 runners registered, with over 5,300 completing their respective races.

Hyderabad: Nikhil Singh and Stanzin Dolkar took the men’s and women’s open titles in the 42K Marathon at the 13th Ladakh Marathon, while Tsetan Namgyal and Gargi Sharma won the men’s and women’s Half Marathon, respectively. Nikhil completed the 42 km race in 2:44:36, with Stanzin finishing in 3:32:58, while Tsetan clocked 1:14:13 and Gargi 1:42:04 in the 21 km race. The two races, along with the 11.2K run, formed the centrepiece of the final day of the event, with a total prize pool of Rs 1 crore on offer across the competition.

Nikhil led a strong men’s field, finishing ahead of Vipul Kumar in 2:50:37 and Hans Raj in 2:53:03, while Stanzin Dolkar finished ahead of Sarswati Rai in 3:33:41 and Disket Dolma, who, days earlier, had claimed the Khardung La Challenge open females’ crown, in 3:37:57. In the Half Marathon, Dhola Ram was second in 1:20:32 and Sarfaraz Hussain third in 1:23:25, while Stanzin Yangdol and Simta Sharma completed the women’s podium behind Gargi in 1:52:57 and 1:54:51, respectively.

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Two days earlier, the ultra races had set the tone for a high-performing edition, with Ladakh’s Nawang Tsering winning the 122 km Silk Route Ultra in a new course record of 12:12:18, completing the race in just over 12 hours. Rajasthan’s Suraj Meena finished second in 12:35:00, breaking the record for the fastest non-Ladakhi runner, while Tenzing Dolma won the women’s race in 14:26:29. In the 72 km Khardung La Challenge, Jigmet Stobdan set another course record with his winning time of 6:00:03, while Disket took the women’s title in 7:03:26.

That strength carried across the wider field, with more than 7,800 runners registering for the 2026 Ladakh Marathon and more than 7,200 qualifying after meeting the event’s stringent participation requirements, designed with runner well-being in mind. Upwards of 5,300 runners finished within the stipulated cut-off times, including an unprecedented 291 finishers in the 72 km Khardung La Challenge and 82 in the 122 km Silk Route Ultra.

The 11.2 km Run saw Sonam Stanzin win the open men’s category in 42:22, followed by Furboo Tundup and Mehboob Ali, while Stanzin Diskit won the women’s category in 58:22, ahead of Tashi Dolkar and Devanshi Saxena.

Among the veteran runners, Mahi Pal Singh won the men’s Full Marathon in 3:51:59 and Rita Satish Patkar the women’s race in 4:49:39. Reji Kumar Aravindakshan won the men’s veteran Half Marathon in 1:51:45, while Sarbari Debnath took the women’s title in 2:44:00. In the ultras, Pawan Dhaka won the men’s veteran Silk Route Ultra in 16:10:17 and Asha Singh the women’s category in 21:15:45. Konrad Von Allmen won the men’s veteran Khardung La Challenge in 7:44:09, while Pooja Varma took the women’s title in 11:19:03.